It’s a unique episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast this week, as a personal matter for one the hosts makes recording a full episode impossible. As an alternative, the guys chat – for a whopping fourth time – with best friend of the pod, Chris Peters.
Chris never disappoints. He brings the heat as always, diving deep into the NCAA Hockey Tournament and what to anticipate from that. He also takes a look at the NHL Draft and which prospects will be in range for the Seattle Kraken to select. He even dishes on who from the college or junior ranks could make a good coach for the Kraken.
Thanks for bearing with the guys on an altered format this week, but they hope you enjoy this great conversation with Chris. The Sound Of Hockey Podcast will be back with its regularly scheduled programming next week.
On this week’s Sound Of Hockey Podcast, the guys break down your latest Seattle Kraken news, focusing on the final payment update and the team’s beer deal (about which Darren is not thrilled).
The guys also discuss WHL and college hockey before diving into the huge news of last week, which was ESPN’s seven-year agreement with the NHL. There’s plenty of commentary on what that means for the league and its fans in this show.
John, Andy, and Darren give their expectations for the upcoming trade deadline before moving onto their bit, Sound Of Hockey’s Three Stars.
Segments this week include Goalie Gear Corner, Weekly One-Timers, and Tweets of the Week.
Do you like NHL players? Are you interested in NHL players that may be available to the Seattle Kraken in July’s Expansion Draft? Would you like to know when some of those players will be on the ice for your viewing pleasure?
Then you’re in luck because this week’s Games on the Radar focuses on the Mass Mutual East Division and four teams that have NHL players available. Give them a watch, and while you’re watching, take a brief moment to close your eyes and picture them hitting the ice at Climate Pledge Arena with an ‘S’ on their chest and some sort of catchy song blaring from above.
Here are this week’s Games on the Radar:
Philadelphia Flyers versus New York Islanders
When: Thursday, 4 PM, NBC Sports, NHL.TV free game
The Flyers came into the season as a hot pick to contend. They haven’t quite done that but are in striking distance of a playoff spot despite shaky defense and goaltending. They do have interesting Expansion Draft options for the Kraken, however, and that’s all we care about right now.
Dealing with little to no cap space, the Flyers most likely will expose a veteran player who could step in and play right away. One potential to keep an eye on is Jakub Voracek whose contract of $8.25 million a year could lead Philadelphia to expose him. Voracek is a productive scorer and finding goal scoring for the Kraken in the Expansion Draft could prove difficult. His numbers are down a bit this year – with just four goals and an expected goal percentage of 41 percent – which makes his exposure more likely. He’s not the only vet that Philadelphia could expose, however. James van Riemsdyk is a veteran scoring forward who is having a big year and could fit in well with the Kraken. On defense, keep an eye on Shayne Gostisbehere who has had productive seasons in the past but has fought injuries and could be risky.
The Islanders find themselves on top of the East Division somehow, but they too have some cap constraints that could lead to tasty Kraken Expansion Draft picks. Perhaps the top player in the Kraken crosshairs is Josh Bailey. He’s 31 – which feels super young to those of us who have passed that milepost – and is a productive two-way player. If you like expected goal percentage as a gauge, his is 51 percent and Islanders goalies have a collective .944 save percentage when Bailey is on the ice which suggests he takes care of his own end. Not too shabby. A younger guy to watch is Kieffer Bellows who is on the bubble to be protected. Bellows, 22, is a former first-round pick who has yet to catch on in the NHL, although he is coming off a two-goal performance last week. The one-time Portland Winterhawk is still young, which may lead New York to protect him, but he’s worth checking out.
When watching the Islanders, you should always keep an eye on Mathew Barzal who will not be available to the Kraken in the Expansion Draft but is a dangler and worth the price of admission.
New York Rangers versus Washington Capitals
When: Friday, 4 PM, NHL Network
The Rangers aren’t all that good of a hockey team and the players the Kraken have to choose from in the Expansion Draft are not guys that will knock your socks off. So why do we care? Because they do have players who can be depth guys. The glue guys that help a team win. Every team needs them despite their lack of marquee appeal.
Brendan Lemieux is one such player on the Rangers roster. He’s 25 years old and his numbers won’t impress you, but he could be a bottom-six guy for Seattle and will chip in from time to time. Brett Howden, 22, also won’t make you jump out of your seat but he’s young and did score in junior. He has yet to find the net this year but at that age could be a guy to groom in the minors and hope to cash in. We admit this is getting a little depressing, but you could also eyeball Julien Gauthier who is a former first-round pick by Ron Francis. Again, he’s young, just 23, and the potential as a goal-scorer is there. He’s scored in the AHL and that combined with his age may lead him to be protected.
By contrast, the Capitals are a very good team and fighting for first place in the Mass Mutual East Division. It appears that most Kraken fans, based on message board comments, tweets, and all other social media have already figured out who Seattle is going to select in the Expansion Draft. That would be center T.J. Oshie. Did you know he grew up in the area? While the local tie is a fun story, is he worth a pick? He’s aging but his 19 points in 27 games is decent and he has plus-50 numbers in both Corsi-for and expected goals percentage so it appears the production is still there. If you like the local tie but prefer defense, then watch former Seattle Thunderbirds captain Brenden Dillon. He’s not going to score a lot of goals from the backend, but the Kraken could do worse than snaring a physical, shut-down guy in the Expansion Draft.
It’s a super fun episode this week, as Sound Of Hockey welcomes Seattle Thunderbirds general manager Bil La Forge.
With Bil, the guys discuss his journey to become a WHL GM. They also talk about what he looks for when scouting players, being that he has to focus on kids that are so early in their development, and what we should expect from the T-Birds in this shortened season. It’s a fun interview that is well worth a listen.
Also in this episode, the guys talk women’s hockey – specifically the return of the NWHL and the PWHPA’s Dream Gap games – and the hiring of Darryl Sutter (again) in Calgary.
Segments include Get Off My Lawn, Bad Boys, Weekly One-Timers, and Tweets of the Week.
Plus, plenty of good laughs to be had in this one.
The NHL trade deadline on April 12th will certainly bring us some exciting deals that can and will impact some teams’ Expansion Draft protection lists as well as shift some players of interest for the Seattle Kraken. Here are five teams that Seattle Kraken fans should keep an eye on as the NHL trade deadline approaches.
Before diving in, you may want to check out our latest protection projections that we completed a few weeks ago (Central, East, West, North).
Nashville Predators
The Predators are sitting in seventh place in the competitive Discover Central Division. It would take a minor miracle for the Preds to contend for a playoff spot at this point. With a relatively old core of players, they will likely be looking to shed some assets in return for draft picks to begin the rebuild process.
There are several players that could be on the trading block, but the names Kraken fans should focus on are defensemen Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Ellis. Both are projected to be protected with Nashville probably going with the eight total skater protection scheme, rather than seven forwards and three defensemen.
It has been a popular opinion that Nashville will protect four defensemen in the upcoming Expansion Draft, which would mean they could protect only four forwards. However, if either Ellis or Ekholm is traded before the Expansion Draft, then this will enable the Predators to protect only three defensemen and seven forwards, thus limiting the options Seattle will have from Nashville.
Minnesota Wild
The Wild also have a wealth of riches on the blue line. Jared Spurgeon, Ryan Suter, and Jonas Brodin all have no-movement clauses and will be protected in the Expansion Draft. This will either leave Matt Dumba exposed or they could elect to protect him as the fourth defenseman. Protecting four defensemen would then expose either Jordan Greenway, Marcus Foligno, or Joel Eriksson Ek. The trade talk on Dumba has been quiet, but the Wild will probably do something with the right-shot offensive defenseman before the Expansion Draft. Other options would be to get one of their NMC forwards, Zach Parise or Mats Zuccarello, to waive their NMC or they could offer Seattle a decent side deal.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes have a highly competitive team and could look to add some firepower heading into a battle for the Central Division against the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning and the high-powered Florida Panthers. The Hurricanes could offer up some of their youngsters like Jake Bean or Morgan Geekie that the Kraken have likely circled on their Expansion Draft board.
Jake Virtanen has been on the perpetual trade block for the last couple years. If Vancouver finally moves on from “Shotgun Jake,” you can bet on the Canucks protecting 22-year-old Kole Lind who has 8 points in 8 games for the Utica Comets, the team’s AHL affiliate. Lind would certainly be shortlisted by Ron Francis and team.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights have a pretty strong team right now and could end up being quiet in the trade market as we get closer to the NHL trade deadline. Per the Expansion Draft rules, Vegas will not be participating in the Expansion Draft this summer. We will be less interested in the players traded to Vegas and more interested in the players traded out of Vegas. Any significant player with term left that gets traded out of Vegas will either need protection by their new team or will be added to Seattle’s watchlist.
It is important to note that all trades could impact the Seattle Kraken’s Expansion Draft options in some way or another. We will be keeping an eye on all of them here at the Sound Of Hockey.
Great news, Seattle hockey fans! It’s another week, and we have seven more action-packed days of NHL hockey ahead of us. This week at Games on the Radar headquarters we decided to mix things up a bit. Instead of focusing on teams we’re going to shift to players.
Which players are in action this week that could potentially be in the mix when the Kraken decide who they want to bring to Seattle at the Expansion Draft on July 21? You can pretend you’re in general manager Ron Francis’s war room and do some scouting, while also enjoying some fun hockey.
This week we’ll be keeping our radar focused on the Honda West Division which is top-heavy in the standings but does offer some intriguing Expansion picks.
Here are this week’s games on the radar:
Colorado Avalanche versus Los Angeles Kings
When: Friday 6 PM, ESPN+, NHL.tv
The Avalanche are not only an entertaining team, even with their unmatching blue pants, but their depth will lead to some interesting options for the Kraken at the Expansion Draft. Defense is where Seattle may strike gold and it could come in the form of Devon Toews. He’s in his first year with the Avalanche after coming over from the New York Islanders and would slide in as a top-pairing blueliner with the Kraken. At 27, he’s still relatively young and is routinely logging 25-plus minutes a night for Colorado. His possession numbers are strong, with a Corsi-for of 58 percent which would be hard to find elsewhere. He’s solid in his own end and is chipping in offensively with four goals in Colorado’s first 20 games this year.
Up front, an interesting option for Seattle at the Expansion Draft is Joonas Donskoi. The former San Jose Shark is off to what could be a career year. He has six goals so far and is shooting a scorching 28 percent, far and away his career-best. Donskoi is a glue player who may not be on the top line but can provide consistent minutes in a second- or third-line role.
The Wild are in the hunt out West. Yes, Minnesota is in the West which, well, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but what does this year? They also have some tough choices to make with their protected list.
Minnesota has three defensemen with no-move clauses in their contracts which means the Wild may be forced to watch a player like Matt Dumba go to the Kraken in the Expansion Draft. Dumba would be a great haul for Seattle as he is a top-pairing defenseman with a solid track record in the NHL already. He can be physical as well as drive play. His underlying numbers are all positive and match his offensive output. Dumba, 27, is in his eighth season after playing junior in the WHL with the Red Deer Rebels and Portland Winterhawks. He’ll be on the Wild power play and when he does, watch for the bomb of a clapper he possesses.
Dumba is a big piece for a Wild club that is contending this year. They know he may be lost to the Kraken for nothing in the Expansion Draft and may attempt to assuage their losses by trading him at April’s trade deadline. If they don’t, Seattle will have to look elsewhere from Minnesota. So, when your eye is not trained on Dumba firing slap shots, watch fellow defenseman Carson Soucy. While not the offensive threat that Dumba is, Soucy is a solid player in his own end. He wouldn’t project as a top-pairing defenseman for Seattle, but the Kraken could use a guy like Soucy at the bottom of their rotation.
